Well I did it. Passed the CEN this morning. I must say to all those considering taking it..take it. You can pass it. Yes, I studied, yes they ask you ACLS, PALS stuff and yes you can pass. To tell you the truth, the test was about half as hard as what I anticipated it to be. If you have worked in an ER for a year, buy one or two of the famous review books, study for a couple of months regularly you will pass. Some of the questions were so simple I had to reread the question to make sure that I was understanding it correctly (leg wound bleeding...what is first RN intervention...direct pressure..this is Nursing 101 stuff) There were complicated questions don't get me wrong, some I really had to work through but overall a very manageable exam. I finished in 80 of the 180 minutes and passed by a wide margin. I don't say these things to blow my own horn only to emphasize to those who maybe considering taking the exam, don' fear it, it's very doable. Besides, your ER nurses, your job is to save lives daily. You are the very finest of the nursing specialities, the best. How bad can one exam be compared to that? Good luck to all who intend to take it and I hope I have convinced a few that the big bad CEN isn't so bad afterall. Now start studying and go pass.
Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
I don't know why people are still on the Vonfrolio bandwagon?
I've bought and reviewed her material as a professional reviewer and heres' what I've found....
1) Outdated material
2) Barely covers but 40-50% of the core CEN material
3) She goes waaaay down the ICU/Critical care pathway on certain topics ---things that aren't even on the CEN exam
4) She takes too many "sidebars"....she likes to go off on a tanget and give her own opinionated takes/diatribes on topics. A favorite of hers is to talk about how nurses are so "beaten down" and "abused"...
5) Her snide remarks, jokes and anecdotes - while funny and laughable, they serve nothing to prepare you for an exam. They may leave a happy feeling in your heart and make you feel like you had an enjoyable time; but as far as covering core content; it is time (too much time) spent off-topic... I'm all for breaks and small jokes during my classes, but out of a 16 hour class, AT MOST we're only blowing 20-30 minutes on this kind of stuf. LGP's goes WAAAY out there, often on a 10-12 minute story by itself.
These are just a few points I have with her material.
While I applaud the speaker personally and professionaly; I cannot laud her as a exam prep presenter and when you're dropping $200-300 bucks for a class, I figure you want most of your time to be spent on exam prep/review.
I would challenge anyone who has her material to go back through it now, and read/listen/watch the entire thing with a stopwatch and track the time spent "off topic"...as well I would challenge anyone to read/listen/watch her program, write down all the topics/talking points she mentions and then compare with the CEN exam blueprint. This is what I objectively did when reviewing it and that's why I gave the editorial I did.
I bought one of her review books and I felt it helped me pass the CEN the other day. I used the lippincott as well and the MedEd CD review. Something about this combo has to be right...I passed.
Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
While I am happy that you passed as well as for anybody who takes that next step in their professional progression by taking the CEN - I do feel your statement about "something being right" isn't assuredly true... let me explain.
As having been and currently am in the business of writing CEN prep materials and teaching CEN review courses myself, I try to stay abreast of what everyone out there is doing. I also try to stay informed as to the needs of the CEN-exam-candidates and how they are going about preparation.
I have watched message boards where people ask others "what worked for you" or "what is the best book/class/video" to use. Many successful CEN exam takers are ready to share their successes so you read what these successful people write.
The problem is that there is no way to PROVE what methodology caused someone to pass their exam. The only way to do this is to run a control study of CEN candidates with the same experience and knowledge base and then put one group through preparation method "A" and one through preparation "B" -then comapre the outcomes. That is evidence based. Everything else is ancedotal.
Let me give some examples
A) A RN reads someone's CEN study guide, takes the exam and passes. Someone asks them what study guide they used and that RN replies "So-and-so's" study guide. Then the questioning RN takes that advice and buys that book.
What's the problem here? The first RN had only the exeperience of that one resource upon which to make a recommendation. Because they passed, they are more likely to feel that it was THAT book/course that played a role - but we'll never know because after taking the exam, they stopped studying. It's kind of like "why do you find your misplaced keys in the last place you looked?".... because you stop looking when you find them.
B) In this scenario, you read so-and-so's book and take the test and fail. Does that then mean that particular book "caused" one to fail? Logic dictates if Item A caused you to pass and you didn't pass after using Item B - then Item B must have caused you to fail.
We all know that is a false argument; but because that is a false argument, then it MUST stand to reason that the original assumption (Item A caused me to pass) MUST at least be highly scrutinized and evaluated; becuase if there is a direct causal relationship absolutely, then it must be valid both ways.
Obviously this cannot be true in this way.
C) Then there is the argument that the CEN candidate was ALREADY prepared to take the exam before studying and reviewing. There would be no way to know this unless they took the exam first without studying and then sudied, took it a second time and then passed. However the fallacy with this argument is that the student may only be successful the second time due to having taken it once before. There may have been a reduction in test anxiety or an increased understanding of the test content from just taking it.
So basically, unless you read and review ALL the leading materials out there, there is no way to put one above the other without a sound evaluation of cuase and effect.
I try and figure all this into the development and presentation of my own courses. No where do I claim to tell the student "everything" that is on the exam; nor do I expect that they leave one of my seminars, and be 100% prepared to sit for the exam immediately following; UNLESS they were already prepared BEFORE taking one of my classes.
My whole goal is to:
1) help the student gain confidence in areas they are already adequately prepared
2) help the student identify areas in which they need supplemental preparation
3) to help demystify the exam process
4) to help reduce pre-test/test anxiety
For me to meet these goals, it does not mean that all my students have to pass the exam; nor does it necessarialy mean that my course CAUSED them to pass the exam. As well the assumption is that my course would have been successful, if the CEN cadidate, as a result of my class, came to realize that they have so much more to gain knowledge from and that, at that particular time, writing the CEN exam MAY NOT be in their best interest as they might have too much supplemental studying to do.
This is all one of the reasons that I've covered 12 of the leading CEN prep books, 2 DVD sets, 1 web cast course, and have attended 3 CEN seminars myself - I'm trying to synthesize all the information out there to find the most comprehensive way to do this.
So while I completely applaud your CEN success (and I REALLY mean that!) - I did want to speak to the comment about those recommendations AND that when people read recommendations like that, most don't see beyond the surface to understand critically how to use that recommendation information.
Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
Great! I found once I set the date (3 months down the road) it really motivated me to study, don't forget to join the ENA first. It will not only lower your cost of the exam but also affiliate you with a professional organization.
Good show! Often I've found that the actual financial "hurdle" of registering for the test is one of the biggest barriers.
During my courses, I try to get all the students to sign up for the exam during our course - I even make it more atractive by discounting their exam fees if they sing up during the course. To the best of my knowledge, no one else does this!
Well, I can say the the review books I used helped me and I would recommend them. I found them clear, concise, and to the point covering the topics required.
mwboswell
561 Posts
I don't know why people are still on the Vonfrolio bandwagon?
I've bought and reviewed her material as a professional reviewer and heres' what I've found....
1) Outdated material
2) Barely covers but 40-50% of the core CEN material
3) She goes waaaay down the ICU/Critical care pathway on certain topics ---things that aren't even on the CEN exam
4) She takes too many "sidebars"....she likes to go off on a tanget and give her own opinionated takes/diatribes on topics. A favorite of hers is to talk about how nurses are so "beaten down" and "abused"...
5) Her snide remarks, jokes and anecdotes - while funny and laughable, they serve nothing to prepare you for an exam. They may leave a happy feeling in your heart and make you feel like you had an enjoyable time; but as far as covering core content; it is time (too much time) spent off-topic... I'm all for breaks and small jokes during my classes, but out of a 16 hour class, AT MOST we're only blowing 20-30 minutes on this kind of stuf. LGP's goes WAAAY out there, often on a 10-12 minute story by itself.
These are just a few points I have with her material.
While I applaud the speaker personally and professionaly; I cannot laud her as a exam prep presenter and when you're dropping $200-300 bucks for a class, I figure you want most of your time to be spent on exam prep/review.
I would challenge anyone who has her material to go back through it now, and read/listen/watch the entire thing with a stopwatch and track the time spent "off topic"...as well I would challenge anyone to read/listen/watch her program, write down all the topics/talking points she mentions and then compare with the CEN exam blueprint. This is what I objectively did when reviewing it and that's why I gave the editorial I did.